275 A Good Reason To

Daniel's world had fallen apart.

Despite Aeron's attempt at encouragement, Daniel knew for a fact that he would not be able to find his friends anytime soon.. If not ever again. His comprehension of space was deep enough to know that the simple distance between each other the moment they were thrown into the void, meant that they had likely been separated by an immeasurable distance.

The first thing he did after learning of the fate of his friends, was to create a quest that would help him find them.. But the very window that appeared in his head, had confirmed what he was fearing. All of his friends were not only millions of light years apart, but were also in the territories of different factions. For him to reach Heimart, which was the closest one to him, and the first objective of the mission, would take thousands of years of travel, as traveling in between factions without permission and without being discovered, required a strength that he did not possess impossible.

He was currently looking at the empty space in front of him with a similarly empty expression. The idea that any of his friends would be going through a life threatening situation all alone, was tearing him apart. But what was even worse, was knowing that there was absolutely no way for him to rescue all of them.. that, was the worst feeling of all.

The only comfort that he found in this whirl of worry and fear, was the fact that his karma had miraculously changed to a positive level just before they had been teleported. That would give them a better chance at survival thanks to Daniel's omnipresent karmic effect.

Unfortunately, that did not mean that they would not go through hardships.

Karma X Luck was, without the shadow of a doubt, the most mysterious and powerful effect within his karmic system. Second Chance, Karmic Retribution, or even Time is Precious were beyond any quantitative level of value that a common person could calculate, but in terms of magnitude of effect, Karma X Luck was beyond any other.

The only limits of Karma X Luck, were the amount of karma that the wielder of the system possessed.

Aeron observed Daniel in silence, and felt every bit of anxiousness and fear that formed a grip around his heart for the following minutes.. But then, out of the blue.. A spark of anger started to shine in the middle of that cluster of dark emotions.

This feeling of anger was born from a sudden thought.. A thought that was exactly what Daniel needed to get out of his spiraling state of mind.

Anger, as well as an indomitable will power grew in Aeron's mind as he watched Daniel clench his fists. "Daniel.." He said in hope to distract him from forcing these feelings to grow to a point where the idea of going on a rampage could form.

Xargy, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying the sight. In the thousands of years he had spent warring along with his kin, he would often smell this sent often.. The smell of a dragon ready to waste his life on a war. He hadn't smelled this smell in anybody else for a very long time, and now that this smell had once again found its way into his lungs, it was making his blood boil.

"What now?" Asked Aeron while putting his left hand on Daniel's shoulder, and forcing his mind to calm down with his powers. Unfortunately, Daniel's mind was not that of a common human anymore, and since Aeron did not have a cultivation much higher than his, he was not able to eradicate those emotions completely.

Nevertheless, his attempt was somewhat successful, and instead of going on a rampage, Daniel used those short instants of clarity to think of his next move.

"Now.." Daniel muttered while thinking of everything that had happened to him. Of how he simply wanted his family to live happily, of how most of his friends wouldn't have had to go through these hardships if they hadn't met him, and about the fact that the source of all that had happened to him, could be pinpointed on a single being.. Iewah.

"Now.. now we give them a reason to hunt us down."

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*Primary Quest started: One Against All*

-Description: Become the most dangerous individual in the Universe.

First objective set: Destroy the faction 'Garden of Death'.

Reward: ???

Time limit: 8 years, 6 months, 13 days.

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An extremely wide smile appeared on Xargy's face, and while some faint smoke came out of his nostrils, he muttered "Now we are talking."

-----

Planet Khron, Universal government territory.

Of all of the planets within the universal government, hron was one of the most important. It was a liveable planet, and matched the perfect conditions in which human life, as well as most beast tribes, could evolve, and thrive on.

The reason for the importance of Khron was not due to his perfect living conditions, but for what the planet had been selected for by the universal government, just one month earlier.

Once kept as a backup home for the government to move to in case a disaster were to happen to Alcazar, Khron was now filled with a large number of individuals that had come from each and every faction that was part of the universal government, in the last hundreds of thousands of years.

While not the most impressive individuals in their factions, these individuals were relatively young for their level of cultivation, and all of them could be considered rare geniuses, as well as promising contendants for the position of elite.

The capital of Khron was called Zetta, and due to the fact that the planet was interdicted to any company, faction, or group by the universal government, it had alway been an extremely peaceful city, as well as a place where influential people could go on a vacation to due to its beauty.

Now, the name of the once quiet city, had been changed into Patriot city.. Name taken by the newly formed and most important institute of the entire planet.. The Patriot Academy.. Also known as the 'Army and Explorer Preparatory Academy'.

The decision to create the Patriot Academy, had been taken by the Grand Judges after the report of the bearded explorer regarding the results of his expedition.

While the possibility that a war between the two groups was not definitive, the universal government was not fully aware of their full power, or their numbers. So, despite what the outcome of the following encounters between the two groups would be, they needed to prepare for the worst.

One of the proceedings taken, was to open numerous academies in which the various factions would be forced to send their share of talented cultivators. These individuals would be then taken as either member of the army, or part of the explorer corp.

The original idea was to open numerous schools, and take the most talented individuals that hadn't received a gift yet from each faction.. but their proposal had meet with heavy discontent. In the end, the factions had only agreed on sending a small number of geniuses into a single school. That school, was the Patriot Academy.

It was the day of the official opening of the academy, and the powerful cultivators were storming the city like a swarm of ants that had found a rich source of food to take back to the nest.

In a dirt road that lead directly into Patriot city, was a long tail of carriages that had been stopped. Each of these carriages were different, and in one way or another, they all showed what sort of factions the individuals that were being transported came from.

The one in the lead had a square base, and was built like a pyramid with a small golden booth on top, inside which two individuals sat hidden by a semi-transparent veil. The carriage was carried by a group of human slaves, which not only moved the carriage forward, but also had to lift it off of the ground, as there were no wheels on it.

Behind this carriage was a line of at least thirty more carriages, all just as unique as the first one. One of them was made of thick vines, and was carried by two large horses with wings tied close to their sides, one was balanced on the back of a massive lizard-like being, and so on.

A chattering noise could be heard coming from many of these carriages, and all of them shared the same topic.. That topic was, of course, a collective discontent towards whatever was currently stopping their carriages from moving into the city.

Lying on the dirt road right in front of the carriages at the head of the line, was a young man dressed in practical clothes. He was facing down, and was clearly unconscious.

After a few missed attempts to awaken the young man by voice, the veil on the right side of the carriage moved aside, and from behind it, a young woman walked out. She then walked down the steps of her pyramid, and as she reached the edge of the square base, four slaves moved into position to allow her to step on them, as if they were mere steps in a flight of stairs.

This young woman approached this young man as if she owned the entire planet, and once in front of him, she lifted her slender leg, and with the power of a late seventh stage immortal cultivator, she attempted to smash the head of the individual before he could even wake up. She was a queen, and he was a subject that had stumbled in front of her.. In her mind, she had every right to kill him.

Unfortunately for her, before her foot managed to reach the back of the man's head, he had disappeared from the place where he was lying on, and the blade that had formed around his hand had already slashed the air close to her neck.

Just as the blade of the young man was about to reach the girl's neck and slash it open, a blurred figure dashed out of the carriage, and hit the elbow of the young man with a power many times above his.

The young man's arm bent unnaturally, and was broken.. Yet, the young man did not stop. Instead, he used the burst given by the attack that he had received, to spin on the spot and slash again with his other arm.

Once again, a soft *Thump*, followed by a sharp *Spah!* could be heard.

The young woman did not even have the time to react to the young man's attack, and if her protector hadn't come to her aid, her head would now be rolling on the dirt right next to where she was standing.. Yet, while still alive, her neck had two faint cuts on both sides, and in front of her eyes, was a thin needle which had been stopped by her protector before it could reach the center of her forehead.

The protector, who was a woman who appeared to be in her late thirties, was shocked to see the decisiveness and relentlessness of the young man that was standing in front of her. Not only had he attempted another attack after the first one failed and his arm was broken, but he had gone for a third, after his other arm was broken as well.

In her opinion, this young man was not somebody that could be allowed to live, or one day, he would try to take revenge on her protegee. Of that, there was absolutely no doubt.

Her hand moved at an incredibly speed towards the neck of the young man, but before her hand could touch him, a man appeared in front of her.

This man's head was covered in bandages, and his eyes were covered by thick goggles. On his shoulder, was a musket. He was none other than Sniper, the explorer.

The woman immediately realized who this man was, and instantly paralyzed on the spot.

The Sniper's back was directed towards the protector of the young woman, and it didn't seem like he was worried that the woman would attempt to attack him any time soon. "What is your name?.." Said the sniper while moving his musked from one shoulder to the other.

The young man, which was standing with an emotionless face covered in dirt, and two arms completely broken.. Said "Jerigh.."